I linked to this from another forum I belong to
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/08/ammosexual-ar-15-bubble/?fb_action_ids=10204042793086613&fb_action_types=og.comments
Quote
Ammosexuals Find Out That Guns Are A Bad Investment As Bubble Bursts
The AR-15 – proud symbol of the NRA's fear campaign against firearm regulations. The hysteria that the government was going to seize your firearm resulted in a boom in sales for the past several years. But as with all booms, it has now busted.
Instead of the rampant growth of the past few years, we now are witnessing factory after factory after factory are shut down.This trend began late last year, covered up as "transitioning" or "adjustments." After nearly a year of continuing layoffs, the signs are clear, people have stopped buying the overpriced pieces of plastic. Even historically strong companies are in a slump, as some stores witness sales drops of over 70%.
Warning signs of the AR-15 bubble bursting were visible by the middle of last year. But despite that, new factories continue to glut the market with unwanted AR-15 derived firearms. To move stock, companies have slashed prices, destroying their profit margins in the process in the hopes that they will not be stuck with unsold merchandise.
The firearm industry through its lobbying arm, the NRA, saw the AR-15, a cheap to produce weapon, as a way to fleece the buying public out of billions. And, they were right. People bought the gun which many in Vietnam called the "Mattel" in droves. After all, they were not buying it for its stopping power, accuracy, or range, where it was outshined by numerous other weapons on the market such as FN, Hk, M-1 and AK-47 derived weapons.
The AR-15 was selected as the foundation for the militaries standard firearm, the M-16, through a series of questionable maneuvers, even overruling the evaluation by declaring that the judging was biased. This then established the rifle as the "American answer to the AK-47? and gave it a claimed patriotic flair for marketing purposes. In reality, the selection of the weapon was preordained, with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara forcing the military to select the AR-15 derived weapon even if it was not suitable for the combat roles expected. The predicted combat setup, of 8-man teams firing full automatic fire with full accuracy, was just not to be. Over the protests of Army General Maxwell Taylor, the M-16 entered service. Today, the military is now phasing out the unit, replacing it with an upgraded version of the very weapon it replaced, the M-14, derived from the upgraded M-14 originally proposed back in 1959 and rejected in favor of the AR-15 derived unit.
With the opening of new AR-15 factories, even as others shutter their doors forever, continuing, the floor of the AR-15 crash is not yet in sight. The collapse has driven at least one proposed manufacturer to secretly postpone its plans, revealed by their lockdown of their blog after passing their 'breaking ground' date without even purchasing the land upon which to construct their 'Citadel.' Others have turned to 3D printing their own firearm components, further undermining the market.
The firearms market is just like every other market on the planet. It obeys the same laws of economics. By creating a surge in the demand of AR-15?s, the arms manufacturers then created a surge in supply. But this in turn caused a glut, which then sated the demand. Now they are facing a major financial loss, with no real solution in sight. By bankrolling on the ammosexual's fear that "Obama's gunna take yer guns," the firearm industry may have dug their own grave.
Realize, Obama did not need to take anybody's guns away at all. The gun manufacturers have instead made that happen in their rush for short-term profits without regard to long-term sustainability. Now they will pay the price while those who engineered this failure walk away with their pockets full of company profits.
As for the ammosexuals, the only word which applies now is "Sucker."
Author: Nathaniel Downes Nathaniel Downes is the a native of New Hampshire, now living in Seattle Washington developing the next-generation superpowered MMORPG, City of Titans. Feel free to follow Nathaniel Downes on Facebook or Google Plus.He has just released his first book, available in Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle.
The amount of stupid in this article burns. I mean seriously...this guy thinks the armed forces are replacing the M16/M4 with the M14? And while I will give some other guns benefit better range and stopping power, hard to argue with the accuracy of an AR-15.
Wow.
(http://themortgageblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/double-facepalm.png)
I think we may see a actual surge in 7.62X51 NATO/308Win guns in our military procurements. It seems the FAL's and HK's may be the winners of those contracts....
To understand the downsizing of the troops and equipment, I can see where the arms makers were looking to sell products to the panic buying public during the questionable POTUS reign. After all this greedy government going wild for power and control, did take several slashes to the constitution with their political sowards and insidious ink pens! :o
Yes the panicked public spent money's to gather whatever they could find, the current shortages are still evident as to the continued hoarding of guns, bullets and other supplies. It has slowed down by a fair amount because centerfire ammo sits on the shelves these days, whereas the little 22's are still being absorbed. ???
I understand the current arms makers moving out of those states that have strangled their business models and practices.
One has to wonder, who are the puppeteers that hold the strings on the POTUS!
(http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/38/f912a3614a1a365d2c0192abdbf1031fdebb36d1.png)
A few facts and a butt load of projection. Not surprising since he lives in Seattle, a city not known as a hotbed of conservatism.
Looking at pricing on desirable old guns I sometimes wonder if the prices aren't riding a bubble myself.